Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Now that I've covered all the overseas Terps, let's take a look at how former Maryland players here in the US fared in 2010-2011, complete with some self-referential links:

Steve Blake (1999-2003) played for the Los Angeles Lakers, where he averaged 4.0 points, 2.2 assists, and 2.0 rebounds in 20 minutes a game in the regular season (79 games), then 2.2 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.6 rebounds in 16 minutes a game in 9 playoff games. The Lakers made it to the Western Conference Semi-Finals. Now that we're in the off-season, Blake is probably working on his Mixed Martial Arts skills.

Blake's Lakers teammate, Joe Smith (1993-95), in his 16th NBA season, averaged 0.5 points, 1.3 rebounds in 4.3 minutes per game in 16 regular season games (4 with the New Jersey Nets prior to an early season trade to the Lakers). He appeared in 5 of the Lakers' playoff games, going scoreless. This may have been Smith's last shot at an NBA title.

Greivis Vasquez (2006-10) had a successful rookie year with the Memphis Grizzlies. Vasquez averaged 3.6 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.0 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game in the regular season (70 games). Vasquez stepped it up in the playoffs though, and scored 4.3 points, 1.5 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in only 10.9 minutes per game (13 games). The Grizzlies also made it to the Western Conference Semi-Finals. Vasquez has been spending his off season doing some important sports diplomacy in Venezuela in conjunction with the US State Department and other NBA and WNBA athletes.

Statistically, Chris Wilcox (2000-02) may have had the best season, averaging 7.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in 17.5 minutes per game in the regular season (including 29 starts in 57 games) for the Detroit Pistons. Wilcox came on strong in the second half of the season, but finished the year as the longest tenured NBA player without a playoff appearance.

As I mentioned a few days ago, DJ Strawberry (2003-07) started out the season with the NBA D-League's Reno Bighorns before heading overseas to play in Lithuania in January. In 20 games (7 as a starter) with the Bighorns, Strawberry averaged 13.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.0 steals in 29.6 minutes per game.

Chris McCray (2002-06) was back for his second season with the D-League's Sioux Falls Skyforce, averaging 9.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in 29.3 minutes. McCray started 23 of 29 games for the Skyforce, which had a poor year (10-40) and missed the playoffs,

Beyond the D-League, there are several smaller minor leagues in various stages of organization and stability in the US.